Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, is on a one-man journey to transform how his nation is seen – both by the global community and by its own 35 million people.

It is infamous for a scourge of human rights abuses, including the criminalisation of homosexuality, severe restrictions on freedom of speech and women’s rights, and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. In combatting that reputation, plus appeasing a rapidly growing and youthful population, Bin Salman has alighted on sport – he views it as critical to solving that equation.

For example, government sources indicate that Saudi Arabia is aiming to host 25 world championships across a number of sports by 2030. At the World Cup, football’s greatest stage, Bin Salman was conspicuous, attending matches, sitting next to Gianni Infantino and announcing a national holiday after Saudi Arabia beat Argentina. A bid for either the 2030 or 2034 editions looks in the offing.

Publicly, the Saudi government insists the reason for this sporting expansion is to create investment opportunities, improve public health and develop sporting infrastructure.

Last week, within the space of 24 hours, Saudi Arabia took its most significant sporting steps yet. On Monday, they announced a revamped Saudi Pro League, with the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund (PIF) – who already own an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle United – taking ownership of the country’s four largest clubs: Al Ittihad, Al Hilal, Al Ahli and Al Nassr. Collectively and historically, they are known as Saudi’s ‘big four’. A further four teams received investment from other state-owned companies.

Of course, the players had already begun to arrive, headed by Cristiano Ronaldo joining Al Nassr in January. The reigning Ballon d’Or winner, Karim Benzema, was announced as an Al Ittihad player late last week. Al Hilal were close to signing Lionel Messi. N’Golo Kante may be the next arrival. The contracts are stratospheric and the message is clear: Saudi Arabia wants to disrupt world football.

One day later, they did the same with golf. It was a shocking announcement – that the PGA Tour was merging with PIF-funded upstart LIV Golf, bringing an end to months of rancour and folders upon folders of litigation.

PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan was to become golf’s most powerful figure – giving Saudi Arabia another seat at the table.

This is the global context behind football’s latest shake-up – but amidst the money, the glamour and the public relations spin remains instability, financial uncertainty and a hefty degree of disorganisation.

Over the past few weeks, we have spoken to league organisers, clubs, agents, players and Saudi experts, the majority speaking anonymously to protect their current positions. This is the story of the Saudi Pro League.

It is important to know two things about Saudi Arabia. It is young – 70 per cent of the population are under 35. It is also football-obsessed. Since Ronaldo joined, attendance at Al Nassr games is up by 143 per cent. That is set to multiply across the league.

“I still can’t believe we got Benzema,” Rola, a 26-year-old female Al Ittihad fan, says. “He’s a dream signing. It’s not just quality on the pitch but also global publicity and interest in our club.”

It is public knowledge that global publicity is a key part of the Saudi plan. According to Bin Salman, one key “strategic objective” is “to create qualitative opportunities and an attractive environment for investment in the sports sector”.

One key motivation behind his Vision 2030 masterplan is to divert the Saudi economy away from fossil fuels. The aim is to triple the league’s market value to SAR 8 billion ( $2.1 billion) through a combination of commercial revenue and private-sector investment. Since Ronaldo joined, ticket prices have gone up to SAR 150 (£30), having previously been around SAR 10.

Another potential impact, heavily briefed by competition organisers, are potential public health benefits. The government is keen to improve the statistic that some 60 per cent of the population are overweight or obese. One aim, given by Yasser Al-Misehal, the president of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, is to increase the number of registered male players from 21,000 to more than 200,000. He did not mention a target for female players.

“I’m grateful to the club president, the Minister of Sport and the Crown Prince for everything they’re doing for Saudi football and our club,” adds Rola. “After Benzema, we will see more big names join and take us back to our glory days.”

Her words demonstrate another truth behind Bin Salman’s agenda. Vision 2030 is not just about how Saudi Arabia presents itself to the world, but how it presents itself to its own people.

“What Mohammed bin Salman and his advisers don’t want is gangs of 26-year-old guys taking to the streets and plotting the overthrow of the royal family because they have to live their lives differently to the rest of the world,” says Simon Chadwick, a professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School. “Essentially, what the government is now doing is saying: ‘Well, if you want Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, we’ll give them to you.’

“But the flip side to that is they do not want to be questioned. So far this year, there have been more arrests of people in Saudi Arabia for posting negative comments about the government than ever before. The contract is that you can have whatever you want, but don’t question us.”

Bin Salman’s desire to appeal to the country at large is visible from the choice of clubs to receive private investment. Not only is it the four largest clubs in Saudi Arabia, but also Al Qadsia, in the eastern region, and Al Ula, the homeland of the ancient Thamudi tribe, both keeping the provinces onside. Al Diriyah, from the birthplace of Wahhabism, has also received funding.

There has still been a degree of internal controversy – although delicately expressed. Fans of Al Shabab, the country’s fifth-largest club, are upset not to have received funding, especially having finished in the top four for the past three seasons.

Al Ahli, who experienced a shock relegation in 2021-22 and have only just been promoted back to the top division, received PIF investment instead thanks to their historic popularity, plus the prospect of marketing a Jeddah derby.

“Al Shabab is an attractive club for investment,” says an Al Shabab fan known on Twitter as Nwayser. “The club’s prime location within Riyadh is better than those of Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr. We have our own stadium, which is set to re-open soon, we have a big history and tradition as a club as well as the potential to attract more fans.”

There are real fears that investing in the top four clubs will lead to a two-tier league. However, organisers are confident there will be a trickle-down effect, with players previously at the ‘big four’ moving to mid-tier sides as global superstars arrive. Plans for the 2023-24 season will see each of the four PIF-owned teams target a minimum of three world-renowned names per club. A smaller number of world-renowned players are expected to be distributed among the other sides in the league.

“It’s going to help local players,” emphasises Thierno Alimou Diallo, an agent for Wonder Sports and Entertainment Group, who has lived and worked in the Middle East for almost 15 years. “It’s going to help local players seeing Cristiano Ronaldo in training, looking at what he’s doing. It will give them confidence.

“There was one boy, I can remember, when he saw Cristiano Ronaldo training with him on the same pitch, he was crying. So it goes beyond the money.”

It also goes beyond Saudi Arabia. This is intended as an instrument of soft power.

“Saudi Arabia sees itself as being at the centre of a new world order,” says Chadwick. “By fulfilling that position through sport, it acquires legitimacy. The PGA Tour was founded in 1929. The legitimacy it has taken the PGA Tour nearly a century to acquire, Saudi Arabia has effectively achieved in just over two years by buying it.”

Their plans are equally ambitious when it comes to football. The nation’s aim is to become one of the top 10 leagues in the world by 2030 – but as of January, according to sports intelligence agency Twenty First Group, the Saudi Pro League was the 58th highest-quality league in the world. That places it below the Scottish Premiership (49).

• The Athletic report